Adelaide Crows end Melbourne’s unbeaten run – by last-gasp point

The players cast long shadows as they run in the winter sun during the Round 10 AFL match between the Carlton Blues and Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG in Melbourne, on Saturday, May 22. The Blues won by 23 points. Scott Barbour/AAP Image

26 May 2021 10:38am

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There were quite a few surprises in the results of the Round 10 games last week with at least three games settled by a one- or two-point leads. The Saints paid a heavy price for their inconsistency suffering their heaviest loss so far and Collingwood lost the lead and the game in the last five minutes of their game against Port Adelaide.

The Brisbane Lions won by 28 points at the Gabba against a very ordinary Richmond side. Carlton fought back in the last quarter to beat the Hawks by 23 points. Geelong overran the Gold Coast Suns by 34 points.

The biggest shock of the week was Adelaide at home at the Oval managed to do what no other team has been able to do so far and that is to hand Melbourne its first defeat of the year by one point thanks to a controversial umpiring decision.

The Western Bulldogs smashed St Kilda by 111 points while in Perth, Fremantle showed some metal to hang on and defeat the Sydney Swans by two points. In the last quarter of their game the GWS Giants went past West Coast by 16 points. It was by 72-point margin that Essendon rolled North Melbourne. On Sunday Port Adelaide snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by beating a tiring Collingwood by one point in a match the Magpies had dominated for 98 percent of the game.

GWS Giants’ Jesse Hogan was injured again and may be out for four weeks. Jesse Carlisle of St Kilda is to have back surgery that could keep him out for the rest of the season. Concussion will keep out Geelong’s Mitch Duncan out of the next match. In a major blow for Western Bulldogs, midfielder Adam Treloar will miss up to eight weeks with a syndesmosis injury that he picked up on Saturday.

Carlton’s Lachie Plowman will be out for two weeks following his unduly rough contact on Hawthorn’s Jaeger O’Meara and Hawks team mate Kayal Hartigan is also on an enforced two week break over his behind play on Carlton’s Sam Walsh. The tribunal also handed a two-week penalty on Gold Coast player Nick Homan for the rough tackle that led to Mitch Duncan’s concussion. Richmond’s Picket got one week for a head-high strike on the Lions’ Brandon Starcevich.

The prime-time clash of the titans takes place at the Marvel Stadium on Friday night when the “real deal” Western Bulldogs and the rampaging Melbourned Demons vie for the top spot on the ladder. Expect a close score line, hard tackling and a few reports along the way.

On Saturday afternoon at the MCG Collingwood play Geelong. Brisbane hosting at the Gabba the GWS Giants. St Kilda face North Melbourne at the Marvel Satidum. On Saturday night, the West Coast Eagles host Essendon at the Optus in Perth. The Gold Coast take on Hawthorn at the TIO in Darwin.

On Sunday afternoon, Richmond and Adelaide are to rumble at the MCG. Sydney will take on Carlton at the under-sized SCG. Port Adelaide playing at the Adelaide Oval, take on Fremantle. All three of Sunday’s games are likely to be hotly contested, tight affairs.

Fiv Antoniou winners’ tips: Bulldogs, Geelong, Brisbane, St Kilda, West Coast, Hawthorn, Richmond, Carlton, Port Adelaide. Progress tip score (59).

♦The NEMBC Multicultural AFL Footy TV shown are 2021 Antenna Award finalists in two categories. The winners will be announced on Saturday, 29 May. The show is on free-to-air C31TV Channel 44 for Melbourne and Geelong on Thursdays at 7:00pm; C44 TV Adelaide on Friday evenings and on Aurora-Foxtel TV, midday Saturdays. If you missed it on TV, you, can always view it on NEMBC You Tube.